[Chicago-talk] Advice on writing a book?
Andrew Rodland
arodland at comcast.net
Sun Aug 13 02:03:17 PDT 2006
On Sunday 13 August 2006 12:22 am, Jonathan Rockway wrote:
> I know there are a few authors on the list, and I'm interested in
> hearing their advice / experiences.
>
> Basically, I've wanted to write a book for some time, but wasn't really
> sure of the topic. Now, I am sure: I'd like to write a book about the
> Catalyst framework. Catalyst is just as good as Rails (well, better,
> actually), but there isn't any marketing for it. I think that a
> well-written O'Reilly book would really help the PHBs realize that
> Catalyst is an excellent platform for web apps.
>
> I mentioned this on the Catalyst developer list, and the consensus was
> that "well Catalyst has some POD docs, so that would be a waste".
>
> I would feel bad going behind their backs and writing a book that I
> would personally profit from (having not written a single line of the
> Catalyst core). But I do feel qualified to write the book - I've
> written two major apps on Catalyst, and am willing to devote the time to
> clearly explain the concepts to newbies (and write the necessary example
> code, etc).
>
> Any thoughts here? Is it OK to write a book on something you didn't
> write? Would it upset anyone?
Well... I'm no author, and I'm not qualified to offer book-writing
or -submitting advice, but that said... :)
Catalyst could use some recognition. A book that I could point out to people
would be _great_. If I could learn something new from the book, that would be
doubly good, but a simple introduction would still be invaluable.
Yes, the fact that you're not an "insider" could end up being a bit
uncomfortable, but if you think that you can really do a good job, I don't
think you should let that stop you. If the "Catalyst guys" let the
opportunity pass, and you can contribute something to the community, then
nobody has a place stopping you.
Whatever you end up doing, here's to success.
Andrew
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